&nbsp;
What&nbsp;on earth is&nbsp;happening at Liverpool this week? There seems to some major leaking going on behind the scenes that seem to point to two camps eager to try and score points against each other. News has begun to circulate this morning that the chief executive, Rick Parry is to leave his position at Liverpool this afternoon after 12 years at Anfield.&nbsp;A statement is expected this morning to clarify matters. That sounds like he’s going to me.
After the Benitez leaving debacle on Wednesday, today the focus has shifted to Parry’s position in the Liverpool hierarchy. It’s an open secret that Parry and Benitez don’t get on at all, but once again, Liverpool’s dirty washing is being aired in public. After the news about Robbie Keane leaving Liverpool was revealed by the BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson in an interview with Irish Radio over Christmas, it’s been a constant stream of negativity leaking out of Liverpool.
Lawrenson made the cardinal sin of bragging about going for a drink with Steven Gerrard and that Gerrard had told him that Keane would be sold in the transfer window. Most of the&nbsp;British media picked this up and had a go at Lawrenson,&nbsp;though oddly the BBC ignored the story, and Lawrenson probably has been advised to keep things to himself in future by his Liverpool contacts.&nbsp; The decision to sell Keane was seen by many as a sign of strength for Benitez, he’d wanted Gareth Barry and David Villa. Instead Parry went after neither target and signed Keane, against Benitez’s wishes. Once Keane had been sold back to Tottenham, the battle lines were drawn. The relationship has steadily gone down hill and Benitez may have made the point that if they’d signed who he wanted in the summer, they’d still be top. That alone makes Parry’s position weaker.
Now 4 weeks later, it begins to seem as if Benitez has won out but it also makes you wonder, just who was behind the stories about Rafa leaving on Wednesday. Surely it wasn’t a deliberate act by&nbsp;someone either at Liverpool or working on information supplied to them by a Liverpool employee was to try and destabilise the team ahead of the crucial Champions League game at the Bernabeu? Defeat for Liverpool would have made things very difficulty for Rafa to salvage anything from a season that promised so much but has run out of steam. It would have made the owners consider if it was worth offering him a new contract, or looking at other options.
Overall though, whoever has in charge of Liverpools public relations this week has had their work cut out dealing with all the misinformation flying around. Is Parry really going to be let go this afternoon or has the Benitez camp begun some mischief making of their own? Ferguson will be loving this, Hiddink will probably think Liverpool have the implosion abilities of Ajax in his native Holland, O’Neill and Wenger will see cracks they could possible exploit. The Blue half of Liverpool will be revelling in the continuing soap opera developing across Stanley Park.
Parry isn’t exactly Mr Popular with Liverpool fans, or the owners though he has always counted on George Gillette’s support.&nbsp;By all accounts though, that support has begun to evaporate leaving Parry isolated and alone at Anfield. The fans in general, have nothing but loathing for him, blaming him missing out on Villa and Barry in the Summer and seem to have no respect for him at all. If anything positive was to come out of this season for the Reds, Parry announcing he was leaving&nbsp;would probably placate a lot of them.

Rick Parry Is To Leave Liverpool - World Soccer Talk

Rick Parry Is To Leave Liverpool

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
Can anyone remember the last time Hull City won a Premier League game? December 6th at home to Middlesbrough was the last time. Since then, they have been very much in freefall.&nbsp; When Hull first arrived in the Premiership, they were tipped to go straight back down but decided to tear up the script and go to well established top flight sides like Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United and win. How dare they!
&nbsp;Since then however, Hull have had a bit of a reality check. Despite two very credible draws at Anfield and Stamford Bridge, a couple of resounding batterings from Manchester City and Sunderland, accompanied with some less humiliating defeats and the odd draw have seen Hull fall into thirteenth. By all means this is a respectable position but the worrying thing for Phil Brown’s side is that they are looking over their shoulder now, rather than towards the dizzy heights of Europe that their early season form suggested.
The run of form that they are in at the moment suggests only one thing; a relegation scrap. This is the last thing that they would have wanted or expected at the time of their last league win but have struggled to maintain the kind of form that shocked the world before Christmas. Credit to Brown, he acknowledged their slump and tried to shake things up by bringing in some new faces, most notably Manucho on loan from Manchester United (to replace the outgoing Marlon King) and record signing Jimmy Bullard from Fulham. The latter however seems to have backfired for the time being as Bullard required further surgery to his troublesome knee and is out for the remainder of the season having only made one substitute appearance for the Tigers.
A problem that is still rectifiable this season though is their home form. The KC Stadium has hardly been a fortress having picked up just three wins in the league there all season. Perhaps this is because it is a welcoming venue for travelling teams with nice facilities and doesn’t boast the most hostile of atmospheres. If a team is to avoid the drop, it is often their home form that will decide it. Stoke City are a good example of a side who are making the most of their home territory and in turn made themselves very difficult to beat there. Hull’s next three home games all come against sides who are in the relegation mix and the phrase ‘six pointer’ starts to take on some real meaning. Sunday’s match against a rejuvenated Blackburn Rovers is a crucial match and a win for Hull could spark a run that results in a comfortable finish to the season and doesn’t require the need for a positive result against Manchester United on the final day. Newcastle United and Portsmouth are the following home games for Hull while upcoming trips to Fulham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Sunderland suggest that Hull should pick up enough points to survive.
Most neutrals would like to see Hull stay up, purely because of the way they shook things up in the opening weeks of the season and think it would be a waste to then throw it all away. Hull have achieved a lot in a short space of time and sending them back to the drawing board now would be harsh. However, you only stay up if you’re good enough and time will tell.

Hull City To Go Down? - World Soccer Talk

Hull City To Go Down?

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
If, like me, you’re always looking around the Internet for those hard to find football shirts from your past, frustrated as someone gazumps on you on e-bay for the classic 1987 Tottenham away kit with 3 seconds to go, then there has to be only one website for you to visit: <a href="http:\/\/www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk" target="_blank">www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk</a>
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20090127_WST_4178_Liverpool-78-AwayLS.webp&amp;width=271&amp;height=211" align="right" height="211" width="271"></figure></div>To say it’s extensive doesn’t do it justice, this is a site that has kits from the 1970’s up to the 2004-2005 season, all originals, no fakes and no re-issues. It’s a football fans dream, a real goldmine of memories for people like me who were placed as the football boom really returned in the late 1980’s in the UK.&nbsp; The 1980’s were when the kits got trendier, sponsors names started appearing all over the place and away and third kits began to appear for the first time.
It also saw the boom period for when people actually wanted to buy replica kits, a strange concept to us these days that football merchandise at the beginning of the decade seemed to consist of bland scarfs, hats, rosettes and gloves in your teams colours.Between 1987 and 1990, the football shirt fashion came from out of nowhere, now its seen as normal.
I just love browsing the site, clicking here and there on link after link after link, each one reminding me of certain moments of my footballing life, like a polyester time capsule, bursting with memories about the girls I kissed at the time, the music I was listening to, the great players and the world around me. So, I thought I’d ask the Doug, one the guys&nbsp; behind this wonderful website a few questions:
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20090127_WST_4178_Tottenham-91-HomeAN.webp&amp;width=275&amp;height=229" align="right" height="229" width="275"></figure></div> Paul : First of all, thanks for taking the time to talk about the website with me, I really appreciate it. So, to anyone out there who doesn’t know about you, what can you tell us about www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk?
Doug : We are essentially an online shop which sells original and official replica shirts for a wide selection of clubs and national teams from all around the world, from the late 1970’s through to the 2000’s. For the big teams, we stock quite large quantities of home, away and third shirts from many different seasons in a range of sizes. But we try to offer something for everyone from Manchester United to Accrington Stanley, AC Milan to Bari, Boca Juniors to Chicago Fire, England to the USA.
Paul : I’m amazed at some of the kits you’ve got on the site, what gave you the idea to start? 
Doug : The two directors of the site were both students when the idea came about and to make ends meet, realised there was money to be made in original, vintage football shirts. The company has grown from this very small base to a relatively large online store stocking close to 10,000 shirts!
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20090127_WST_4178_Man-United-92-AwayNH-USE.webp&amp;width=227&amp;height=187" align="right" height="187" width="227"></figure></div>Paul : I’m a bit of a football shirt collector, with probably about 80 to 100 myself, but what are the site’s top sellers? 
Doug : The most popular shirts are the Holland home shirt from their famous triumph at Euro 88, the Manchester United Newton Heath design away kit from 1992-1994, Liverpool shirts from the time of their last league title, the Arsenal kit worn on that glorious night at Anfield in 1989, the England home shirt from Spain 82 and generally anything that has a great design, sparks memories of great victories or shirts that are very obscure.
Paul : How do price the kits that you sell on the site?
Doug : The shirts are priced first and foremost on the rarity. If it will take us a year to source another one then we have to charge a price for it that takes that into consideration. After that, it goes down to size and condition. Shirts have to be suitable for an adult to fit into really and the most popular sizes are M, L and XL. We try to stock shirts in excellent condition, this means that they may have been worn in the time between when they were first purchased in the shop in whatever year and when they arrive with us, but don’t really show any real signs of this and are great examples for their age.
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20090127_WST_4178_Blackburn--95-Away-LS-Back.webp&amp;width=330&amp;height=292" align="right" height="292" width="330"></figure></div>Paul : Do you just sell replica kits? 
Doug : We also sell shirts that have been worn by players. These bear a number of different features that set them apart from the replica kits that you could buy in the shop. We have people who have had the shirt thrown to them in the crowd, handed to them at the training ground or passed on from a family friend etc, selling these type of shirts to us. In the past we’ve had some great items worn by quite a few legendary players.
Paul : So what are your personal favourites and what are the fashion disasters? 
Doug : A favourite of mine are the tiger skin pattern design shirts worn by Hull City between 1992 and 1995, but they are only for the brave to wear them really! All of the Italian club and national kits from the late 80’s and early 90’s have a great style and class to them. As for a design that’s pretty shocking, look no further than the infamous grey Manchester United away shirt from the 1995-96 season. Ferguson blamed the shirt for United trailing 3-0 at half time against Southampton at the Dell and they were never seen again!!
Well Doug, thank you very much for spending some time talking about your fantastic website with me and the readers of epltalk.com. All the best for the future and if I can recommend one website out there for fans, collectors or just curious&nbsp; fans who want to get a feel about how kits have moved on in the last 30 years, www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk certainly ticks all the boxes.

Website Interview: Classic Football Shirts - World Soccer Talk

Website Interview: Classic Football Shirts

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
There’s the Anfield that we all know on TV. The sight of Liverpool supporters waving their scarves as millionaires such as Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard run around the pitch. But directly behind Anfield is something that Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett don’t want you to see. The most deprived neighborhood in Britain.
On a <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=153296" target="_blank">visit to Liverpool in 2006</a>, I was shocked to see the state of the rows of houses literally under the shadow of the Main Stand at Anfield. Even on a bright Sunday morning with no one in the streets, I was scared to walk past the houses by myself. I’d seen poverty before in the States, but this was <a href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com/photos/epltalk/sets/72157594383163827/" target="_blank">much worse</a>. The majority of the homes were condemned and boarded with metal doors.
<div><figure class="image"><img src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20080910_WST_3167_condemned-houses-anfield.webp&amp;width=500&amp;height=310" alt="condemned-houses-anfield.jpg"></figure></div>
Growing up in the UK, I knew how Liverpool had suffered badly during the harsh economic times of the 1980’s, but I was still shocked to see that level of poverty in 2006. Now though David Conn, the best journalist at The Guardian in my estimation, has written a <a href="http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/10/liverpool.premierleague?gusrc=rss&amp;feed=football" target="_blank">must-read article</a> about how Liverpool’s American owners are hurting local residents due to their inability to raise enough money to build Liverpool’s new ground at Stanley Park.
<div><figure class="image"><img src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20080910_WST_3167_terraced-houses-anfield.webp&amp;width=500&amp;height=310" alt="terraced-houses-anfield.jpg"></figure></div>
After reading Conn’s article, he paints a bleak picture for Liverpool supporters and the community around Anfield. The future doesn’t look too bright for Hicks and Gillett either. The sooner they sell Liverpool FC, the better.

The Dark Side Of Anfield That No One Wants You To See - World Soccer Talk

The Dark Side Of Anfield That No One Wants You To See

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Liverpool seem to have decided on a new transfer policy this summer which makes the same impact as&nbsp;Real Madrid’s lovelorn&nbsp;chase for&nbsp;Ronaldo. Liverpool seem to be using their local paper, The Echo, to release transfer target information into the public domain to unsettle players at other clubs. Gareth Barry became the first and now it seems that Liverpool are targeting Tottenham’s Robbie Keane in the same way. Whilst I know this kind of thing has gone on for years, Manchester United have been accused 19 times in the last 10 years of tapping up players, Liverpool seem determined to lose any face they have in British football by simply announcing which players they covet and seek to recruit them in this way.&nbsp;
What makes this situation worse is that Liverpool seem to be a little hard up and this new policy seems designed to get their targets to request to leave rather than match clubs valuations of players they desire. Stories began to be&nbsp;circulated yesterday that Keane had requested a transfer, which Tottenham and the players agent quickly denied.&nbsp;
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" border="0" align="right" width="280" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20080702_WST_2541_Gareth20Barry20villa20and.webp&amp;width=280&amp;height=380" height="380"></figure></div>Gareth Barry meanwhile&nbsp;has been fined and told to stay away from Villa Park &nbsp;after criticising Martin O’Neill and Aston Villa in an unauthorised interview.Barry is desperate to join Liverpool but I’d understood it more two years ago,&nbsp;Villa are in the best shape they’ve been for ages. If anything, Villa have more chance of winning the Premiership than Liverpool do at this current time, financially they’re far more robust and have a chairman that cannot put a foot wrong for me coupled with an exciting squad that has bags of potential.
The Barry saga hasn’t done the player’s reputation any favours though and I think it’s a shame that a lad who has spent his entire career at a club and rose to club captain at an early age should treat the fans who adore him&nbsp;like this. I think it’s a real shame, Villa have certainly made him feel special and given him everything he wanted but it’s still not enough.
Barry was quoted as saying“There’s no going back, it’s time for me to move on, I’m desperate to play Champions League football and that’s why I have to leave Villa. Villa kept saying they wanted me to stay but I have not heard from the manager for weeks. It’s seven weeks now since the season finished but while the gaffer’s found time to be a pundit at Euro 2008, he hasn’t found the time to speak to me. Have Villa offered me anything to try to persuade me my future is at Villa Park, not Anfield? Not a thing.”
Do we believe that? Can you see Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill being like that and ignoring this stituation.&nbsp;No-one believes that at all.&nbsp;Why can’t Barry be honest with the Villa fans who used to idolise him? Why not simply say “I want to play with my best mate Stevie G, earn more money and go out with a clothes horse”? because everyone knows Gerrard will have played a major role in negotiations to get Barry to jump ship, it’s a fact that they are best mates and have been for nearly 10 years.&nbsp;Honestly, do we think they’ve not talked about it at all? O’ Neill, to his credit, has said Barry can leave as long as Liverpool pay the price tage they’ve set and not a penny more.
Good luck to Villa though, I hope they hold out for every last penny of the £18 million they’ve set as his price, Liverpool need to realise it’s not 1988, they’re not the best club in England and haven’t been for 18 seasons, teams can’t be bullied by them anymore and it bothers me far more than the Madrid/Ronaldo/United love triangle that they seem determined to destroy any good will opposing fans have for them. As for&nbsp;Keane,&nbsp;I’ll&nbsp;take Torres&nbsp;or £25 million, other than Rafa, you’re wasting your breath.

Benitez Burns His Bridges - World Soccer Talk

Benitez Burns His Bridges

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
Liverpool and Chelsea are often blamed for sucking the essence and style out of football, and no player embodies that more than Dirk Kuyt.&nbsp; His work-rate is tremendous., his vitamins are in order, and he covers great ground.&nbsp; At the same time, he has the finesse of a demented walrus and is as pleasing to the eye as a swarthy Barbara Bush.&nbsp; He is…effective.
It was Kuyt who jack-knifed a bobbler through the rugbyman’s five-hole to put the Reds 1-0 up, the lone puncture in this dreary affair.&nbsp; The margin held for much of the match.&nbsp; The result would have placed Liverpool in a commanding position for the second leg at Stamford Bridge, but it was not to be.
In the 95th minute of extra time, John Arne Riise inexplicably executed a diving header, straight into the back of his own net, saving Chelsea from themselves.&nbsp; It was a moment of pure madness.&nbsp; A magic night at Anfield.
Riise’s gaff gives Chelsea the conch for the return fixture, a precious away goal that, with Chelsea’s defensive record at home may prove decisive.
But, do not count out Liverpool.&nbsp; They are prone to fits of craziness, but often that works to their advantage.&nbsp; If Chelsea merely come out to hold, Liverpool can easily weasel back into it.

A Rough Night for John Arne Riise - World Soccer Talk

A Rough Night for John Arne Riise

Latest news from anfield. Find out about all the news related to anfield on worldsoccertalk.com

ALL POSTS TAGGED "anfield - Page 3"

General

Rick Parry Is To Leave Liverpool

General

Hull City To Go Down?

General

Website Interview: Classic Football Shirts

General

The Dark Side Of Anfield That No One Wants You To See

General

Benitez Burns His Bridges

General

A Rough Night for John Arne Riise